'I've been hi-jacked by Somali Pirates. I guess I'm pleased to find that there is still room for Pirates in our world. This is sort of reassuring, or maybe kind of disturbing, or unexpected, and I guess that's okay.
I first read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, when I was 10 years old. The first story I ever wrote was a Pirate story.
Then I saw the 1934 Wallace Beery flick and I thought he was a great Long John Silver. Then there was the great Errol Flynn and the equally great Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood ("Up that rigging, you monkeys! Aloft!").
Lately Johnny Depp has taken a whirl. Lots a swash, and a heck of a lot of buckling too. I mean Depp is great, but he sort of reminds me of just the most foppish member of a band like Motely Crue. Or maybe not like Motley Crue, I mean Motley Crue.
When it comes down to it, I think Wallace Beery and Basil Rathbone are my favorite Pirates. Maybe just a little grittier and supremely odd-ball characters. They didn't just act that way, they were born that way.
Here's the final duel between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood. I always rooted for Basil to somehow pull this one out. Anyway what a way to go!